The Next Level
by TheBlueJetpack
Summary: After the events of Game Off, Lana learns that not everything can be fixed so easily once it is broken, even for a self-proclaimed handy-woman like herself.


_A/N: Time for a new stand-alone story! Once again, PMs are open, so feel free to send me a message. And as usual, a little background info first:_

_Season 4 has been giving me mixed feelings and as it currently stands with less-captivating episodes and a slower rate of release schedules due to being paired up with its spin-off show, it has been a bit of a disappointment. Most of the episodes weren't bad (I mean, the Clincoln McCloud eps were pretty bad), but there were a few good ones. I personally don't feel that they have quite the same punch as many of the previous seasons' episodes had. Most of the sister-based episodes were pretty well done, however one of the biggest problems was that most of them focused on the one sister alone with very little interactions with her other family members, something that has proven more than enough times to work fantastically. Certain episodes like Community Disservice worked splendidly when just focusing on one sister, and Community Disservice was amazing. One of the better ones of the season, but again, this is all just my opinion._

_The 2 episodes I'll be basing this fanfic and the next one upon will respectively focus and extend upon the 2 recent episodes: Deep Cuts and Game Off. Both episodes brought huge improvements to the season; they featured well-received character interactions that worked and fell naturally in both stories, which were simple ideas that were executed well. I have to mention the fact that after 3 whole seasons, we finally landed some true sisterly interactions between Luna and Luan that actually played relevance, heart, and sustenance to the plot. Lots of it was negative bickering, but what makes this episode stand out is that there were enough positive interactions that balanced the negativity out: a subtle, but essential detail that the girls were lacking for 3 whole years. But we'll cover that in the next story. Right now, let's talk about Game Off._

_Interestingly enough, I found Game Off to be the stronger of the 2 episodes, which I wasn't expecting at all. Lana is a really intriguing character. Prior to Game Off, she served more as a comic relief character used in any tight spot for problem-solving or a slice of quick humour. Think how episodes like Tripped! would have suffered without her. Heck, Lana does a better job than Luan in providing visual and verbal slapstick, something Luan's entire character was created for. All of Luan's gags feel extremely forced and her personality was as flat as her deflated whoopie cushions for 2 entire seasons before they actually started doing something with her in Season 3. Lana on the other hand has had character since Day 1, and everything she does aligns perfectly with who she is. Despite this, she still tends to work best as a side character, given that all her 'Lana' episodes were generally very weak and less memorable. _

_Game Off completely breaks that trend, and is one of the better episodes of the season to me personally. The whole story felt natural, like something that would realistically happen among a family of younger and older siblings. Season 1 was all about this, so it's nice to see episodes touching on this theme again. The sibling interactions were great, everyone was in character, and the pacing was spot on. Ironically, in a story that is literally all about rush and fast-pace, the episode didn't feel rushed at all. Nothing was repetitive or overly predictable, which are 2 major things that the current episodes (including Deep Cuts) suffer from. And I praise the way they went about Lana's road to forgiveness at the end. It very clearly showed that it took some time for her to earn back Lincoln's forgiveness, instead of him forgiving her right away and making up like nothing happened. I began thinking more about this and decided to expand on the story as a way to teach Lana a new and valuable lesson for her young 6-year old mind. _

_This is a little story I like to call 'The Next Level'._

* * *

The Next Level

February 3, 2020 – February 6, 2020

As the late afternoon sun disappeared over the horizon, much of the Loud activity was winding down for the day. It became even more quiet when dinner was done, allowing the siblings to quietly disperse to tend to their own activities, effortlessly restoring the peace in the household once again. Lana was in the twins' room, feeding her pet snake El Diablo, but her heart was only paying a mere fragment of attention to this action. She didn't want to use her time right now to feed her snake. Or inspect the plumbing. Or sneak outside to catch a few minutes of playing in the evening dirt.

She wanted to talk to her brother.

She dumped a generous helping in the snake's bowl, then quickly closed up the box of snake chow and headed out of the room. Making a quick swerve to the left and arriving before Lincoln's closed door, she heaved a heavy sigh before doing anything else.

It had been an eventful day. Lincoln had arrived home and, as anticipated, had not been the least bit happy with his little sister for deliberately meddling with his precious video game and his progress after he had made it very clear to her not to. It had broken Lana's heart to see her brother so disappointed in her, and today, she had suffered something far worse than just his anger: the disappointment in herself for betraying him. This had been an even more powerful venom that sloshed away at her insides like a burning acid of highest concentration. As if that wasn't enough, the acid of regret had been packaged with the equally bothersome anchor of guilt that had weighed her down at the bottom of the ocean. But after a few sweat-inducing hours of ploughing through all of Lincoln's chores and a quick snack tray preparation as a means of apologizing, he had forgiven her, and even let her stay to help him make it through to the game's final level. Together, they had successfully defeated the Trash King, and following this, Lincoln had kindly let Lana start a game of her very own. Without the stress and anxiety of feverishly rushing to complete the game in a crazed dash before certain doom walked through the door to catch her red-handed this time around, Lana had enjoyed playing _Total Trash Takedown_ magnificently and she and Lincoln had had a good time.

So if all was well and her brother had forgiven her, why did she have such a yearning to see him again right now?

Deep in the pit of her stomach, Lana felt that something still wasn't quite right. Sure, she had said 'sorry' for what she had done, and yes, Lincoln had clearly acknowledged this and had accepted her apology, and even went so far as letting her have a spin with the console. But she could not shake off the feeling that there were still strings that needed to be tied on this matter before they could all call it quits and head off to bed.

Lana heaved a final big breath and made her appearance known to Lincoln in her own typical fashion.

She opened the door and marched right in.

"…and as the co-host of this vlog, I thought it'd be great to show off my – " Lincoln whipped his head around and locked eyes with those of his little sister. He immediately slammed the lid of his laptop shut, but not before Lana caught a glimpse of Ronnie Anne's smiling (and blushing?) face. "Lana, what gives? What did we talk about knocking first?" he asked in a very annoyed voice.

"Oh, right…sorry," Lana said, retracting slightly. Then she jumped quickly ahead before Lincoln could have a chance to shoo her away. "Hey, Lincoln, I need some help. I lost something really important to me and I think it's in the attic. Can you give me a hand?"

Her brother frowned. "Right now? Lana, I'm kinda in the middle of something. And besides, the attic is more of Lucy's expertise. Go ask her."

Lana stood her ground. "But I need _your _help. You're the _only_ one who can help me find this special thing! Please, please, please, Linc?" she begged hopelessly, dropping to her knees and throwing in those big sparkly puppy dog eyes for effect that worked almost every time she chose to deploy them.

This time was such a time. Lincoln rolled his eyes and huffed with more annoyance. "Fine," he said to the ceiling. "But let's make it quick, okay?"

Lana jumped up and beamed her gap-tooth grin at him. She wordlessly whipped around in a 180-degree spin, ran out to the hallway, and yanked on the pull cord, bringing down the passage way to their newest destination.

* * *

"You know, if there was someone out there who would buy dust, we'd be millionaires," Lincoln joked as he ran his finger along an ancient cardboard box that was just one of so many forgotten boxes and belongings that lay idle and disused in their cluttered attic. His finger left a visibly clean trail that stood out from the rest of the box's dust-topped surface. The contents that lay inside were currently unknown.

"I can see why Lucy likes it up here," Lana piped up from the other side of the attic as she pushed a box of Luan's old comedy props and toys to the side to inspect the aged, yet intact exterior of an old storage container. "It's so dark. And creepy."

"A lot of hiding places, that's for sure," her brother remarked as he channeled his hand through a box containing various hand-me-downs and an assortment of clothes that had long been discarded after no longer suiting their owners in size or style. There was a box underneath this one, heavily masked with packing tape and a large red sticker that said 'Expired Chemicals – Very Unstable' in Lisa's sloppy handwriting. "You know, Lans," he continued. "I know I was reluctant to help you search for your…whatever it is we're looking for, but I'm actually kinda glad we're alone. I kinda want to talk to you…about today."

Lana poked her head out from under an old coffee table, upon which sat a large stack of Lori's year-old _Lady Golfer _magazines. "Yeah," she said cautiously. "I do too." She crawled out and dusted her overalls off before approaching Lincoln.

The boy dragged a nearby chair to sit upon while she clambered up on top of the trunk belonging to their Great Grandmother Harriet. From up here, she was now just a bit higher than Lincoln. She looked down at him to meet his eye while he tilted his head slightly to look up at her.

Normally in a scene like this where both characters had something on their mind and wanted to speak it but both unsure how, this would be the cue for an awkward silence to arise. But not for Lana. She had no trouble in speaking her mind, even if it was on a more serious topic.

"Lincoln?"

"Yeah?"

She took a big breath. "You know I'm sorry for trashing all your game progress today, right?"

He nodded, as if he knew she had been wanting to confirm this. "I do."

"And…you really meant it when you said you could see I was sorry, right?"

"Of course, I do."

Lana fiddled with her fingers. "So…you forgive me 100%?"

Lincoln smiled up at her gently. "Of course, I do Lana. Why would you doubt that?"

She shifted her weight on that trunk uneasily. "It's just that…you were so mad at me. Every time I close my eyes, I always see the angry look you had when I left you to restart your game. I can't stop thinking about how mad you were at me 'cuz of how badly I messed up."

Lincoln reached up and placed his hand upon her shoulder. "Lana, we all make mistakes. You shouldn't dwell upon it. Yes, I was mad at you, but I forgave you when I saw you were truly sorry. It's just a video game. Losing my progress isn't the end of the world. But I was mad at you because it was special to me. You made a mistake, but you owed up to it, and now we can move on."

The little tomboy nodded as she looked down at the dusty wooden floor. Floors always interested her. It was the floor for one level, and the ceiling for the next level. "So…you're not mad at me anymore?"

"No, Lans. I'm not mad at you anymore."

Lana heaved a sigh of relief, as she finally began to feel that dead anchoring weight finally start to lighten up.

"But," Lincoln suddenly said in a gravely tone. "To be honest, Lana…I'm disappointed in you."

The weight slowly began to descend once more when she heard this. "You are?" she asked with dismay. "But I said I was sorry. And you forgave me."

"I know, I know," he soothed. "And I do forgive you. But this is what I wanted to talk to you about, because I think this is a good time for you to learn this." His eyes grazed over to a tower of Lynn's lacrosse sticks leaning against the wall at the far side of the attic, then back at his sister, who was staring at him intently, waiting for him to elaborate with a look of desperation on her face.

"Lana, just bear with me as I explain this, okay?" he said to her. "I told you not to touch my game until I was done with it, but you did. So that's why it's just a little bit harder for me to trust you now."

Lincoln must have known that he had to make his explanation very clear to Lana, because he got up and sat down next to her on the trunk so he could loop his arm around her shoulders and hold her close. "I'm not the first one in this family to tell you that you're the best mechanic and plumber in the entire neighbourhood. In all of Royal Woods even. There's just nothing you can't fix. Wherever there are pipes to unclog, a shield to solder, or a bike to build, I have full confidence that you can put it together, Lana. But there are some things in life that you just can't fix and make as good as new in one go. Trust is one of these things."

Although Lana felt her brother's comforting hand of reassurance rub her back in soothing circular motions, her heart was feeling heavy again, partly from sadness, but mostly from confusion. "So…you're saying you _don't _forgive me?" she asked weakly.

"I _do _forgive you_,_" he answered strongly. "But forgiveness and trust are two different things. You need to understand that. Apologizing and forgiving was the first level, and we've done that part. But now, you're on Level 2, which is always more challenging than the first, just like in _Total Trash Takedown._ It takes time for you to win back someone's trust. And it's not something you can buy with money or all the Flippees in Flip's freezer. The next level is like that. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Lana nodded slowly. "Yeah…I think so," she mumbled. "But…does that mean you don't…trust me anymore?"

"I still trust you, sis," Lincoln said carefully. "But because you broke a tiny crack in it today, it's not as strong as it was before. A single crack in the window weakens the whole window, does it not?"

Lana understood what Lincoln meant.

Then Lincoln held her even closer to his side. "I'm not going to hold this against you, Lans. I'm willing to forgive and forget. I already have. And besides, you're only six. You're not supposed to be perfect. You're supposed to mess up and mess up again in order for you to learn all kinds of lessons like today _and_ right now."

The girl looked up at his face, thinking about this. "Well…I'll definitely try to resist the urge to touch anything that I'm told not to from now on…" she said in her raspy voice.

Lincoln smiled. "See? That's the right attitude. But the take-home lesson you can learn from all this besides not touching the things you're not supposed to is that trust is a very fragile thing. Once you break it, it's very hard to fix it and win it back so it's as good as new. I'm willing to give you more chances so you can put what you've learned to good use the next time something like this shows up again. I just needed to let you know where you and I stand now, okay?"

Lana was quiet as she thought this through. She still felt the guilt for her earlier betrayal, but now a greater guilt for losing Lincoln's trust, something she had not realized until now. However, Lincoln was right. She could learn from her mistakes and keep on trying. What stood before her now was the objective of the next level that she needed to complete. She wasn't quite sure how she was going to find Lincoln's trust in her, but she wouldn't give up until she did or at least restored it to its original glory. Finding this trust and rebuilding it would be like finding a golden apple in the trash heaps. It was somewhere out there; she just had to work hard to get it. For now though, she was more than grateful for the second chance and the forgiveness her brother had given her tonight.

"Lincoln?" she said tentatively as she removed her hat and looked up to meet his gaze.

"I really am sorry for what I did today. I…hope maybe I could somehow win back that trust you were talking about sometime."

Lincoln Loud smiled proudly and brought his sister in for a hug. "Lana, you're well on your way," he told her quietly.

Lana closed her eyes comfortably as she nuzzled herself into Lincoln's chest, feeling safe and happy in her big brother's protective hold. No matter how many times she and her siblings fell out with each other, they always seemed to get back together. Lincoln was no exception, and boy, was she happy for this.

Still holding Lana close to his chest, Lincoln suddenly opened his eyes. "Hey, what was it that you were looking for up here anyway?"

In response, Lana snuggled closer into their embrace as she answered him. "I just found it."

The photograph of Great Grandma Harriet, standing on its perch where Lucy had last left it, smiled in the shadowy darkness.

**THE END**


End file.
